[125] NE TE LIVRE POINT. Livrer is here taken in the sense of 'betray.'
[126] LA QUESTION EST VIVE, 'That is a leading question.'
[127] UN PETIT BRIN. Equivalent to un petit peu. Brin means 'spear' (of grass, etc.), and, as in the case of goutte (drop) and of mie (crumb), has come to indicate any small particle. Often idiomatically translated by 'bit.'
[128] J'AI PEUR D'EN COURIR LES CHAMPS, 'I am afraid of losing my reason.' Compare the expression, être fou à courir les rues, à courir les champs, 'to be stark mad ' (Littré, "courir," 23°).
[129] DÉCOMPTER, 'Deduct.' Still used, though not commonly, for rabattre.
[130] LES MAÎTRES. On may be followed by the plural, if taken in a plural sense, although some later editions give the singular, le maître. In fact, after this indefinite pronoun, a noun, adjective, or participle may agree in gender and number with the person or persons to whom the indefinite refers.
[131] FONT … À LEUR TÊTE, 'Have their own way.' The idiom faire à sa tête means 'to do as one pleases.'
[132] BEAU JEU. The idiom avoir beau jeu is a card term, and means first, 'to hold the best cards,' and hence, 'to have a good opportunity.'
[133] PERRETTE OU MARGOT. Names of the lower classes among servants. The idea is carried out by the reference to the visit to the cellar and the flat candlestick. Compare: "Ne semble-t-il pas qu'il faille tant de cérémonies pour parler à madame? On parle bien à Perrette" (Marianne, 2e partie). Perrette, from the well-known fable of La Fontaine, Perrette et le pot at lait, has come down to us as the personification of the dreamer, the builder of air-castles. Margot, a diminutive of Marguerite, is a common term for the chatterbox.
[134] FAUTES D'ORTHOGRAPHE, 'Misapprehensions as to real rank.' The ordinary meaning of the expression, used figuratively, is fautes de conduite.